TOKYO 2020: Olympics tipping point for beach volleyball growth - Mulinge

Coach Sammy Mulinge and his charges, the women's beach volleyball team of Gaudencia Makokha and Brackcides Agala almost missed their chance at qualifying to the Olympics but a determined Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) petitioned for a repeat qualifier seeing as the team had missed out for no fault of their own. 

When the dust of a Covid-19 pandemic that threatened to ravage the dreams of many athletes who had hoped to be counted as Olympians through the Tokyo Games settled, considerably, to allow for international competition, new CAVB president Hajij Bouchra, headed to call for a repeat qualifier as many teams had missed out on the 2020 qualifying tournaments due to travel restrictions imposed by various governments. 

The national teams headed to Morocco with the sole ticket in mind, the women's team accomplishing that mission. After 12 days of camping in Mombasa in preparation for the tough conditions in Tokyo, it was not enough to prepare the for the humidity of the Japanese capital. 

“We knew we would experience this kind of weather and high humidity. When we trained in Mombasa, we had this kind of weather on some days, but the humidity was not as high as here. We are staying hydrated and the players are catching up very well. I am very happy. We still have some days to train up to July 27 and therefore hope we will cope with the situation," said coach Mulinge. 

The Kenyans have a date with Brazil on their first day of action, Monday, July 26, before taking on USA on Thursday, 29 July and Latvia on 31 July in group D. To prepare, the tactician has planned for one training session each day which he say is the best approach under the hot conditions. 

"We have planned to play one match a day during training. I am going for one training session because we have many teams here and having two training sessions is just not possible. Everyone needs some time to train. 45 minutes is, however, enough to train in these conditions, then use the rest of the time to recover and acclimatise," he added. 

Kenya will be up against teams that were, as recently as last week, competing in the World Tour while the only competitive matches they have taken part in, since 2019, was the qualifiers and a leg of the Tanzanian circuit as part of their preparations for the Continental Cup-cum Olympic qualifier. 

Coach Mulinge, however, says plans were underway to launch a countrywide circuit before Covid-19 hit, adding that the young talent the country prides itself in will go along way in making Kenya a hub for beach volleyball greatness.

"As a member of the beach volleyball commission, we have a programme for a circuit, which we were to rollout last year but for Covid-19. Hopefully, next year we should have a national circuit. We also need to go out and participate regionally and in World Tours," 

"We are lucky in Kenya because we have natural talent. The physical characteristics of many young players in Kenya is amazing. I have been in Rwanda for almost 10 years working with young players and I can tell you the nature of players we have in Kenya is amazing," said Mulinge.

The tactician plans on tapping into that talent and grooming beach volleyball players early as opposed to having players from the indoor variation of the sport switching to the sand when need be. 

"We have a national tour for age-groups; Under-16 and Under-18 programmes, which I believe we can roll out from next year. It just needs government support and the federation. Having reached this level, I think it is a good starting point for beach volleyball in Kenya. So, we look forward to having many programmes for age-groups because this is the development stage for every player. We need young players so that we can teach them the basics. Beach volleyball is different from the indoor volleyball and so we need to teach them the basic skills at that early age," he offered. 

Away in Tokyo, Mulinge's coaching skills go up until the training sessions. When the two players step on the court, he is recognised as a manager. No catching is allowed at the sidelines of a beach match. He had,however, exuded confidence in Makokha experience while praising how fast Agala has adjusted to the sport. 

"Switching to beach volleyball is not easy, but if you have interest in anything, it becomes easy for you to catch up. For Makokha, we have been with her for a long time since she was Under-23, and has participated in many competitions. As for Agala, she just came the other day and I must appreciate her effort. We had Naomi Too, who got injured and so Agala stepped in. She has coped really well with the conditions of beach volley and look now she made it to this Olympics. It is amazing and I am happy for her. I believe many players can make good players in beach volleyball," Mulinge quipped.